It is known in the medical field that peripheral intravenous (“PIV”) catheters have between a 20 and 70 percent failure rate, decreasing catheter dwell time from a potential between 72 and 96 hours to as low as merely 24 hours or less. Typically, these failures are caused by undesirable movement of the catheter. For example, the tubing, connectors, and fittings attached to the catheter are usually not well-secured and also hang over and off edges of a patient's body. Therefore, the tubing, connectors, and fittings may be bumped or pulled, which in turn causes the inserted catheter to move. Further, bumping or pulling of the tubing, connectors, and fittings loosens the catheter dressings, which then allows the catheter to more freely move.
Movement of an inserted catheter leads to catheter failure because the tip of the catheter pokes and scrapes the inner wall of the vein in which it is inserted. Poking and scraping of the vein wall leads to irritation of the vein and other complications, requiring premature removal of the catheter and insertion of the catheter in a different vein. This results in a waste of resources in both medical supplies and labor, as well as extended patient care and discomfort. Further, since each patient has a limited number of catheter insertion sites, it is undesirable to repeatedly replace a catheter at a new insertion site on a patient this process expends the available insertion sites.
In a specific example, PIV catheters are typically one to two inches in length and are inserted as low as the knuckles to as high as before the elbow. Usually, PIV catheters are first inserted on the hand. Since the tip of the catheter cannot be at the flex point of the wrist, there is only an area of approximately one to two inches on the hand to insert the PIV catheter. Therefore, the PIV catheter is usually inserted relatively low on the hand, which results in the tubing connected to the catheter, and sometimes the hub of the catheter itself, to overhang over the knuckles. This exposes the catheter and tubing to jarring, pulling, and pivoting. Further, the tubing connected to the catheter must be routed back towards the patient, necessitating the bending of the tubing 180 degrees from the connection of the tubing with the catheter. The bend in the tubing typically overhangs past the knuckle, and if not well-secured, can also cause movement or dislodgement of the catheter. These circumstances lead to a high failure rate for PIV catheters for the reasons described above, and therefore, there is a need to secure and prevent movement of PIV catheters and the tubing connected thereto.